1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus including a reusable unit which is recoverable from the marketed products (apparatuses) for recycling, and to a management system adapted for quality control over the apparatus.
2. Description of Related Art
It has recently become desirous, to provide an effective use of resources and in consideration of the environment, to recover and reclaim marketed products (apparatuses) to reuse, at a certain rate, and materials used for the products.
Some of such products include a component unit which has a service life much longer than that of the product. In such a case, it not only mitigates an adverse effect on the environment but is also advantageous in terms of recycling efficiency to reuse the component unit in a state of retaining an added value for the product.
However, even if it is assured that such a unit having a long service life is reusable within a product (apparatus) after enduring service under severe environmental conditions, it is desirous but has been impossible to determine the severity of the service conditions the unit has undergone within the recovered product.
In other words, a product (apparatus) containing such a component unit therein might have been either used, for example, in a well air-conditioned environment or used all day long under the scorching heat of the sun, until the end of its service life. However, it has been hardly possible to simply examine the used component unit for latent deterioration in a nondestructive manner before it is recycled for reuse in another product after its previous service.